Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin
Educated at Haywards Heath Grammar School, Warsash College of Nautical Studies,
then later at University of Portsmouth (BA Hons in Public Sector Police Studies) and
Cambridge University (Diploma in Applied Criminology).
Completing secondary education at 16, Tim left school and joined the Merchant Navy where he spent six years, achieving the rank of second mate, the navigating officer of the ship. He joined Sussex Police in 1981 where he performed a variety of operational roles. As a Chief Superintendent, he attended the Strategic Command Course at the Police Staff College, Bramshill, in 1999.
He joined the Metropolitan Police Service in November 1999 as Commander (Crime) for South London. He was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner - Territorial Policing in 2001, then to Assistant Commissioner - Territorial Policing - in 2003.
During his time in Territorial Policing he introduced a revitalised forensic strategy, instigated and led the Safer Streets initiative, which saw robbery reduce by 30 per cent over a three-year period. Through Operation Sapphire he oversaw the introduction of a number of 'Havens' in London, where victims of serious sexual assault can receive immediate medical and psychological support.
Since October 2006, he has been the ACPO lead for criminal justice in England and Wales and a member of the National Criminal Justice Board (NCJB) since its inception, a member of the London Criminal Justice Board since 2003 and its chair since April 2006. He is also a member of the Criminal Justice Operations Board, regularly meeting the Lord Chief Justice and the Presiding Judge for England and Wales to discuss issues relating to all parts of the criminal justice system. Tim is also a member of the Sentencing Council setting guidelines for Judges.
He was appointed acting MPS Deputy Commissioner in December 2008 and became the permanent appointee in July 2009.
He received the Royal Humane Society Testimonial in 1991 for rescuing a man from a high bridge over a railway line, was awarded the runner-up prize for Equal Opportunities Achievement in the Police Service by the Home Secretary in 1996, and in 1998 received the National Prize for Public Management Leadership by the Office for Public Management.
Tim was awarded the OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List in 2003 and the Queens Policing Medal (QPM) in the Queens New Year's Honours in 2009.